In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet plays the main character of a prince who loses his father and his heir to the throne. Hamlet experiences troubling events that affect his irrational behavior. Stylistically, Hamlet’s character is both beautiful and poetic. Realistically, Hamlet may have suffered from a psychological disorder and several complexes. Hamlet is affected by Bipolar I disorder, causing him to act irritably and have an elevated mood. He is also a victim of Freud’s Oedipus complex which makes it harder for him to accept his mother’s remarriage. Hamlet’s hatred toward Ophelia and his mother is a result of his subconscious overwhelming hatred and fear of femininity. These psychological disorders and complexes that Hamlet suffers from show why he acts as he does. According to the DSM-5 criteria, which is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders, Bipolar I disorder is described as “occurring on a continuum of severity ranging from mild forms of depression with brief mania to severe depression with rapid cycling mania”. One must exhibit three symptoms, along with “distinctly elevated or irritable mood for most of the day nearly everyday, abnormally increased activity and energy.” (“DSM-5”). Hamlet displays unusual talkativeness, flights of ideas, and increase in goal-directed activity. After his father’s death, Hamlet seems to be in mourning and depressed. In his soliloquy, Hamlet talks about his grief and lament. “Oh, that this too, too sullied
His mother and his uncle have married after only 2 months of Hamlet’s father’s death. This has caused Hamlet to be in a heavy state of anger, mixed with his already deep state of mourning. According to Theodore Lidz, these two states can lead to one thinking back on all the negative wishes one may have had in the past. Considering Hamlet’s relatively young age, death wishes upon a parent are not serious but they are common among children. “…and as most, if not all, children have sometimes had death wishes toward a parent, guilt over such wishes can become intense when the parent dies.” (Lidz 48) All of these emotions mixed together so early in the play could lead to a sense of depression.
There is a distinct division of opinion among the other characters of the play about Hamlet's sanity and the split is along gender lines. Ophelia and Gertrude both state that Hamlet has gone mad, but the major male characters, on the other hand, like Polonius think that there is "method" in Hamlet's "madness," that his insanity is a surface mask to shield him as he plans the darker purpose of revenge. Since Hamlet is disturbed by the sudden death of his father and his mother's marriage to his uncle, King Claudius, the abnormality of his behavior to some extent is also understandable. Hamlet is naturally withdrawn, dark, and passive in the wake of those traumatic events. He also shows this when he constantly releases his anger with lines like "How (weary), stale, flat, and unprofitable seems to me all the uses of this world!" His self-exile and his self-reproach are essentially normal reactions to a series of events that he must avenge at his dead father's command but without further direction against a powerful chain of power within the guilty King.
“Mood disorder: although Hamlet worries a lot, he doesn’t avoid situations that cause him to worry. He confronts the ghost of his father as it appears before him. Also, he presents two symptoms namely restlessness or feeling on the edge and irability.” (Character Analysis of Hamlet, Psychological Disorders, Sept. 22, 2012).
Hamlet had a lot of things in his life gone wrong. For an example his father (the king at the time) was murdered by his own brother the new king. At the end of the book his mother and ophelia end up dead to. Hamlet was obsessed with his father being murdered and tried to seek revenge upon his murderer. At the end of the book hamlet ended up killing polonius because he thought it was Claudius (the new king). He was putting other people in harm's way too make claudius too confess. Hamlet has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) because of depression, self-destructive behavior, and unwanted memories of the trauma.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a common theme of mania is spread throughout the play, and is most apparent in the main character, Hamlet. Shakespeare depicts both the emotions and feelings of the characters, allowing the audiance analyze their emotional state. It becomes obvious that Hamlet is struggling with both emotional stress and a mental illness, melancholic depression. In some parts of Hamlet, his emotions and melancholy seem to grade into each other primarily when contemplating his fathers death, whereas other moments the two remain distinctly different.
The final way that Laertes acts as a foil to Hamlet occurs once again when Claudius and Laertes are discussing Laertes’ actions to achieve his vengeance. Claudius gives Laertes advice saying, “That we would do/ we should do when we would; for this ‘would’/ changes” (4.7.134-136). Claudius is warning Laertes that if he waits long enough, he will probably end up not doing anything at all and will not achieve his goal of vengeance. This quote spoken by Claudius is quite similar to when King Hamlet’s ghost meets with Hamlet earlier in the play to warn him about how he was killed by Claudius and that he must get revenge. King Hamlet’s ghost also warns Hamlet saying, “Taint not thy mind” (1.5.92), telling him to not over think his plan because otherwise he will not pursue his vengeance. After Claudius warns Laertes to not get side tracked, the audience is reminded of King Hamlet’s ghost telling Hamlet to not over think because then their plans will not be pursued. This scene acts as a foil towards Hamlet because soon after the conversation, Laertes does pursue his plan of seeking vengeance, whereas Hamlet has been working on his plan the whole play, and has still not started to execute it.
Hamlet proves himself a temperamental, twisted character in William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. The Prince of Denmark conveys his facetious demeanor with his behavior and sharp tongue, especially in scenes with Ophelia and Gertrude. Although Hamlet’s situation is difficult and easily sympathized by viewers, his aggression should ultimately be focused on his murderous uncle.
Throughout the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, the main character is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s "foul and most unnatural murder" (I.iv.36). Such a burden can slowly drive a man off the deep end psychologically. Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the play. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity. Whenever he interacts with the characters he is wild, crazy, and plays a fool. At other times, he exemplifies intelligence and method in his madness. In instances when he is alone or with Horatio, he is civilized and sane. Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his
There are several reasons why one would suspect Prince Hamlet to have bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder has five classifications, including: bipolar I, bipolar II, rapid cycling, mixed bipolar, and cyclothymia. It causes mood swings, severe depression, extreme feelings, and/or confusion. Hamlet, said to be about twenty years old, has been through so much more than the typical twenty year old has. In the play, Hamlet’s father had been recently murdered by his uncle, whom his mother has also recently married. These are the main reasons why Hamlet has also shown serious signs of major depressive disorder as well, which can often go hand-in-hand
Great authors can develop the same idea in different ways. Shakespeare introduces the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia to mental illness throughout “Hamlet”. Hamlet a, Depressed and Monomaniacal Psychopath, runs off of the vengeance of his father to kill his uncle, King Claudius. Ophelia A victim of, hysteria and depression, cannot function without the support of her father and lover without this support she can loses the will to live. Shakespeare uses metaphors, gender, tone, and word choice to develop the progression of mental illness in his characters throughout “Hamlet”.
Hamlet, a Shakespearean character, constantly struggles in a battle with his mind. He leads a very trying life that becomes too much for him to handle. Hamlet experiences hardships so horrible and they affect him so greatly that he is unable escape his dispirited mood. In speaking what he feels, Hamlet reveals his many symptoms of depression, a psychological disorder. While others can move on with life, Hamlet remains in the past. People do not understand his behavior and some just assume he is insane. However, Hamlet is not insane. He only pretends to be mad. Because Hamlet never receives treatment for his disorder, it only gets worse and eventually contributes to his death.
His diminishing outlook on women is, in fact, not the only attribute that affects Hamlet throughout the play. There are various conclusions in academic journals regarding Hamlet's mental state, all of them agreeing or refuting the theory that Hamlet is mad throughout the play. Despite having sufficient evidence, the analyzation of this play is subjective and no definitive conclusion has been made. Nonetheless, one opinion remains to be the most popular: Hamlet is not mad, yet encounters various feelings regarding mental and emotional health.
There are many mental disorders that affect the characters in Hamlet, but three main disorders could be applied to Hamlet himself. The first possible disorder is Antisocial Personality Disorder, which is a personality disorder that classifies sufferers as psychopaths and sociopaths. People who suffer from Antisocial Personality Disorder tend to lie and break laws. They are impulsive, and tend to lack regard for the safety of themselves and others. They may also lack guilt over their actions. The second possible disorder is Autism, which is a learning disorder that also adds a difficulty communicating. People who suffer from Autism have an intense interest in a limited number of things or problem paying attention, are unaware of other people’s emotions, compulsive, and have inappropriate social interactions. The final disorder is Borderline Personality Disorder, which is the best fitting diagnosis of all the other disorders. Borderline Personality Disorder is categorized by unstable moods, behaviors and relationships. People who suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder are antisocial, compulsive, hostile, irritable, risk-takers, lack of respect, lonely, and narcissistic.
Depression in Mental Illnesses The majority of people in this world seem to understand and get the basic feel of how things work. This meaning most people learn to eventually accept things how they are at a certain stage in their life and work with what they can work with. However, some individuals in this world tend to dwell on the past, overthink things, or have a fanatical desire for something or someone.
Hamlet was driven insane by the extreme sorrow and stress caused by his father's untimely death and his mother's insentainiouse remarriage to his uncle causes Hamlet to lose his sanity. Hamlet shows severe signs of someone with a serious mental disorder. He exhibits strange behavior that include selfishness and an ability to only think for himself. He also acted impulsively and contradicted himself constantly throughout the play. He also exhibits telltale signs of Bipolar disorder, also called Manic Depression.